… international humanitarian law continues to apply fully to all weapons systems, including the potential development and use of LAWS. To this aim, conducting legal reviews of weapons, means and methods of warfare, in accordance with art. 36 of the Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions remains essential.
In Italy, the legal basis for such review is set in the Code of Military Organization of 2010. The review process is conducted by the Ministry of Defense in conjunction with the Defense Committees of the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies (the two Parliament branches). In particular, the Italian MoD is required to obtain a prior approval from both Committees in order to earmark the budget and activate the procurement procedures relating to the study, development, acquisition or adoption of any new weapons system and the modernization of current military assets. The overall process is highly transparent since parliamentarians are in a position to assess any new defense investment against a set of criteria, explicitly including compliance with IHL of the concerned weapons system. Their assessment is recorded and is available to the general public and media.
Statement by Italy in the general exchange of views (CCW GGE LAWS, 9 April 2018)
